On Sept 8, the Digital Currency Institute of the People's Bank of China (PBC) and CF40 jointly issued a report titled Designing Digital RMB: Accessibility and Inclusiveness at the 2022 China (Beijing) Digital Finance Forum. Accessibility-related solutions for digital RMB were also showcased at the event.

The research, led by Director of the Institute Mu Changchun, aims to bridge the digital divide in payment for people with disabilities and therefore promote financial inclusiveness. The event shows that e-CNY has been enhanced for greater accessibility and inclusion through the introduction of an accessible digital RMB application and upgrades to the wallet matrix and payment hardware.

The release was followed by speeches of senior representatives from China’s Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF): Lyu Shiming (CDPF vice president) and Li Qingzhong (CDPF council member and president of China Association of the Blind). Xiang Botao (deputy secretary of the CPC Tsinghua University Committee and vice chairperson of the University Council) and Lyu Zhongtao (CTO of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) also discussed financial inclusion and accessibility of digital currency based on their respective research.

The event ended with a panel discussion in which fintech industry insiders offered opinions on the report’s findings. The panelists included Shao Lei (president of Institute for Accessibility Development at Tsinghua University), Wang Xiayan (deputy director of the office for promoting digital RMB at China Construction Bank), Xu Guoai (Tencent fintech VP and general manager of Tenpay), Huang Ran (chief expert of technology architecture design of software department at Huawei terminal BG), and Zhou Lijun (general manager of supply chain and fintech department at JD fintech).

The event was moderated by CF40 secretary-general Wang Haiming.